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The Issue of Plagiarizing

December 31, 2017How to Write Any Essay

Plagiarizing is a topic that is taken very seriously throughout every North American academic institution. Some individuals believe that it is an overrated concept however, in truth, it is a serious matter that can lead to severe punishment if infringed upon. Most students are fearful of plagiarizing. They are not just simply scared of the act itself, but they fear the essay writing process in general and don’t have proper knowledge of referencing techniques. What most students get confused about is the ways in which to reference or quote material. Quite factually, it is probably easier not to plagiarize than it is to actually plagiarize. Reason being is because referencing techniques within essay are very straight forward. As long as an individual indicates in some way that a specific, selected portion of the words written within the essay are not their’s then they are plagiarism-free.Teachers and professional educators put too much focus on the negative effects of plagiarism rather than teaching students how to reference their work correctly. The intimidation factor also comes from the various referencing styles, two of which and the most popular are, MLA and APA. It is not difficult to learn how to cite sources and create a reference list however, this still seems to be a common fear among many North American students. In addition, this fear leads to a sense of intimidation felt by the students when it comes to the essay writing process in general and this of course does not benefit students’ education.